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President Trump Says He is 100 Percent Ready to Testify Under Oath; Senator Diane Feinstein Calling for Investigation into Obstruction of Justice; Apparent Insider Shooting Incident in Afghanistan; President Donald Trump Claimed Credit for and Endorsed Decision of Gulf Nations to Blockade Qatar Friday; Some People Held Hostage by ISIS Militants Managed to Escape; Adam West, TV;s Batman, Has Died; Theresa May Holding on to Power; Former FBI Director James Comey Admits Being an Anonymous Leaker. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired June 10, 2017 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[16:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do tapes exist of your conversations with him?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I will tell you about that maybe sometime in the near dear future.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And you seem to be hinting that there are recorders of those conversation.

TRUMP: I'm not hinting anything. I will tell you about it over a very short period of time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DAVE BRIGGS, CNN HOST: While Donald Trump claims total vindication, the FBI investigation is far from over, if anything it is only heating up. Take a look. The Senate could get copies of James Comey's memo as early as Monday. And on Tuesday, attorney general Jeff Sessions will be grilled about how his role in Comey's firing when he testify before a Senate panel. Then, there's the question of whether we could hear from the President himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you will willing to speak under oath to give your version --

TRUMP: One hundred percent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: Let's bring in White House correspondent Athena Jones in Branchburg, New Jersey, not far from where the President spending the weekend. Also with us CNN crime and justice reporter Shimon Prokupecz in Washington.

Athena, we will start with you, the President say he is 100 percent to testify. He has implied that he might have tapes. How likely are either of those to happen?

ATHENA JONES, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Dave, that is the big question of the moment. It is certainly highly unusual to have a sitting President so eager to testify under oath because of that that entails. We also don't know if the President discussed the fact that he was going to say that with his personal attorney whom he helped hire to deal with this Russian investigation.

When it comes to the tapes, he suggested almost a month ago that there might be tapes or some kind of recording and yet he still won't answer definitively if they exist. And this is in line with the President's practice in the past before he was President, often promising things would happen in a very short period of time that either took a long a very long time or never happened. I'm talking about his claims about President Obama's birth, that the birth moment claims that the President was not born in America and also his promises about tax return.

Take a listen to some of those instances.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You said that you have sent in resorts there. Have your investigators been able to unearth anything more that will give your argument credence.

TRUMP: I will get you know that at a future date. I will let you know that in the future date.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You sent investigators to Hawaii and you said quote "they cannot believe what they're finding" -

TRUMP: We will see what happens. That's none of your business right now. We are going to see what happens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have they found anything?

TRUMP: We are going to see what happens.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What have you come up with the investigators?

TRUMP: Well, I don't want to say that now but it is going to be very interesting.

If I decide to run for office I will produce my tax returns, absolutely.

Maybe I'm going to do the tax returns when Obama does his birth certificate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: So there you heard the former - the President before he was President being pressed repeatedly about these supposed investigators he had sent to Hawaii to track down whether President Obama was really born there. So this is a pattern of Trump. I should mention, even just early in

the administration, he -- when the court blocked his first version of the travel ban against then seven Muslims majority countries, he promised on a flight down to Florida to reporters on air force that there would be a new version as soon as the following weeks. That version didn't come for several more weeks. So it is really anyone guess what is going to happen when it comes to the testimony and when it comes to getting an answer on those tapes -- Dave.

BRIGGS: Always teasing the next episode.

Shimon, what's next for the Russian probe? Has the President been completely vindicated as he claims?

SHIMON PROKUPECZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE PRODUCER: No. I mean, he certainly have not been. I mean, I think, Dave, he is probably happy and finally got what he wanted and that Comey came out and said that he personally, that the President personally, was not under investigation. But this entire FBI investigation into collusion, and now what the special counsel Bob Mueller is looking at is nowhere near over. In fact, you know, like you said, I mean, it could just be heating up with perhaps agents, FBI agents now being assigned to look at whether or not there are some issues of -- relating to violations of the law relating to obstruction of justice.

And also keep in mind Dave, you have Michael Flynn, the formal national security adviser under investigation. You have Paul Manafort, who was the campaign manager also being scrutinized by the FBI. And as we recently reported, Jared Kushner also being scrutinized. He though is not the target of the investigation. It dealings certainly are under scrutiny by the FBI. So all of this is still going to be going on and we don't expect it to end any time soon.

BRIGGS: I wonder who is beefing up. That is a very full plate (INAUDIBLE).

Athena and Shimon, thank you both.

I want to talk about this with our panel. CNN's law enforcement analyst James Gagliano, retired FBI and supervisory special agent, Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University historian and professor and Ron Brownstein, senior editor of the "Atlantic."

Ron, Senator Diane Feinstein calling for an investigation to all issues that raise a question of obstruction of justice. Do you think Feinstein may be responding to something we didn't hear, something in closed doors?

[16:05:23] RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: No. I think what you heard in public testimony was plenty to prompt that, right. I mean, you basically have two separate issues under investigation. The underlining conduct and whether there was collusion between anyone in the Trump orbit and the Russian intelligence during the 2016 campaign to disrupt the campaign and to, you know, hurt the Hillary Clinton campaign. Now the second issue of whether the President and any of those around

him tried to obstruct the investigation into an aspect of that particularly whether Michael Flynn made - former national security advisor, made false statements to the FBI.

And you know, what the senator Feinstein's letter underscores is that it is really kind of inappropriate vehicle for the senate intelligence committee to be the sole place on Capitol Hill looking at this. Their expertise is counter intelligence. The idea that they will also be the vehicle looking at whether there was on instruction of justice seems a little stretched.

On the other hand, I think the reaction for most Republicans is going to be we are going to wait and see what the special counsel does is not going to be a lot of appetizer for waiting too deeply into these waters.

BRIGGS: Don't expect much of a Republican reaction there.

All right. Julian, the President tweeted that he is totally and completed vindicated. You write a piece on CNN.com, quote "Trump's claim of victory shows that it is the President living in a bubble - his own imagination." What do you mean by that?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, he says he is vindicated and he claimed victory. But I don't think that matches the fact that most people are seeing. The fact is the Comey testimony was very damaging. It gave a nice road map for Mueller and his investigation which is accelerating now. I think many people feel there's more concrete evidence, not less of the possibility of obstruction of justice. The congressional investigations are continuing. And this is not a baiting right now. Even with Republicans in control of Congress. And most important, his polls remain historically low and his polls with his base have actually slipped dramatically in the last month. So this is not someone who is simply victorious.

BRIGGS: He is really trying to solidify that small and shrinking base.

James, you obviously watch these hearings definitely than most of us. As a former FBI supervisory agent, when you see the push back on Comey, they say why didn't you do something if you thought this was appropriate? Why didn't you run up the chain? I don't buy the notion that he should quit, but should he have done more?

JAMES GAGLIANO, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Dave, after careful consideration and after consultation with a number form of colleagues of mine, I say yes. And I wasn't there when I was first in the moment of watching the testimony because I was angered of what had happened to him, but many former FBI just (INAUDIBLE).

Secondly, as the crescendo begin to build during his testimony, the leak piece, the way that it was answered, it was almost like he was putting it out there before he was asked specifically about it. As in a prosecution you want to get out any kind of negative information about your cooperating witnesses or about any of your witnesses. And I felt like it was almost -- it was almost prepared that he was going to do that there.

The part where he used a surrogate to do so. Those parts affected me because it is just - it stands in contrast of what we know about him. He is a, political actor. You go back to 2004 and the whole (INAUDIBLE) stand down with Bush 43's attorney general and chief of staff. You go to February of 2015 when he went to Georgetown. He gave a brilliant speech about law enforcement and policing and pushed back on the Obama administration that didn't want to agree there was a Ferguson effect. This man has been loaded from both sides of the aisle. He has great respect from everybody.

BRIGGS: Loved and hated by both sides of the aisle.

GAGLIANO: But that's a good thing. But I just don't understand why after nine meetings, at what point and time during that chronology of meetings do you say to yourself, OK I'm not shocked that this man is going to ask me to do something that I find inappropriate? Now is the time to push back.

BRIGGS: Draw a line. You are the FBI director.

A lot of problems here, Ron, one of course is that we have taken our eyes off the ball in terms of Russian messing with our election. But how about the legislative agenda here in the United States? How about actually governing? How can Trump and Republicans do that? After all, it is the close of infrastructure week.

BROWNSTEIN: No. Well, in fact, I think there are governing in a way that's being overshadowed. The Senate in an extraordinary process with no public hearings, no release of a bill is motoring towards reviving and potentially passing their version of repeal of the affordable care act. Something of this magnitude I do not believe is ever gone through Julian (ph) and weigh in on this, ever gone through the Senate in as secretive process.

So that has been kind of -- I'm sure the house voted last week to essentially repeal most of the Dodd Frank law that was passed after the financial collapse in 2008 to kind of bring in predatory financial processes.

And all of this has been completely over shattered. And it does underscore the calculations that congressional Republicans are making. They are essentially locking arms around the President. They are not bailing on him as you have talked about. They are defending this behavior saying even if he did say these things, no one is questioning Comey so far. Even if he did say these thing there's nothing essentially criminal about that and basically banking on sticking together and trying to pass this agenda. I mean, the part of the problem the agenda itself faces a lot resistance and public opinion. Over 16 percent of policing, for example, to health care law. But the bet they are making is that they stick together and pass their agenda that is a better course of 2018 and kind of joining some of the questions being raised about the President.

[16:11:00] BRIGGS: Got to get something done with 2018 looming.

All right, Julian Zelizer, Ron Brownstein and James Gagliano, thank you all. Good stuff. We appreciate it.

Coming up a CNN exclusive report of a former American special ops solder. Harrowing stories of helping saving lives on the front line.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

But first, should Puerto Rico be a state, on the next "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA." W. Kamau Bell visits a very misunderstood part of our country to try to shed a little light on the struggles of the small island.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

W. KAMAU BELL, CNN HOST, UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA: So Puerto Ricans are American citizens.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not by choice. In 1988, the United States invade Puerto Rico and claims it as a price from the Spanish/American WARD.

BELL: So you believe Puerto Rico would be better off if it was officially a state?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Independent hasn't work, not because we haven't try but because we have been so repressed.

BELL: Puerto Ricans can't vote for the President.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is true.

BELL: Doesn't make sense, right?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If Barack Obama was to move to Puerto Rico he lose his right to cast an absentee ballot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On the business side we are limited. Even the poorest states, they still have an income for capital that is more than twice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People of color have always been invisible.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are American citizens yet we don't have the same rights.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:36] BRIGGS: An apparent insider shooting incident in Afghanistan has claimed the lives of three U.S. service members and left another wounded. The shooting happened during a joint U.S.- Afghan military operation against ISIS in the (INAUDIBLE) of Mangahar province. The U.S. says the service members were shot in what's called a green on blew attack. That official add the shooter was thought to be a member of the Afghan military. A White House spokesman says President Trump has been briefed and is being kept up to date on the situation.

President Donald Trump claimed credit for and endorsed the decision of Gulf nations to blockade Qatar Friday calling it a thunder of terrorism at a quote "very high level." But just a short time earlier, Trump's secretary of state Rex Tillerson had called for a lifting of that very blockade saying it was hurting efforts to fight ISIS.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REX TILLERSON, SECRETARY OF STATE: The blockade is also impairing U.S. and other international business activities in the region, it has created a hardship on the people of Qatar and people whose livelihood depend on commerce with Qatar. The blockade is hindering U.S. military actions in the region and the campaign against ISIS.

TRUMP: The time has come to call on Qatar to end its funding. They have to end that funding. And it's extremist ideology in terms of funding. I want to call on all of the nations to stop immediately supporting terrorism.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIGGS: The Saudi-led blockade began about a week ago cutting off Qatar's land borders and access to naval airspace. That has threatened Qatar's trade relationship and the air route of Qatar's air ways.

Our next report is heart wrenching and at times very difficult to watch, but it's important to put a human face on the consequences of ISIS rule. And a CNN exclusive, Arwa Damon went to western Mosul, Iraq where some people held hostage by ISIS militants managed to escape with their lives. UNICEF estimates nearly 100,000 children are trapped there. Some of those children survived by hiding among the dead.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARWA DAMON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): They stumbled towards the Iraqi troops. They are breathless. Their voices are shaking from fear and shock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: They use single sentences that seem to hardly encompass the scope of what it is that they actually just been through.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: And as ISIS is squeezed into even smaller territory, the civilians they are holding hostage are running out of food.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

[16:20:01] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

DAMON: It was only enough to feed the children, to try to keep them from crying out. She and her husband, they went hungered. On the front line helping the Iraqi army is Dave Viewbanks (ph). He is American at Special Forces. And with his team, a free Burma rangers volunteer medics. Just days earlier, ISIS massacred dozens of people who were just trying to make a run for it and Dave was called to the scene.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw these 13 bodies and we saw movement, here they are, look at that wall.

DAMON: A man alive and a bill girl who creeps out from under her dead mother (INAUDIBLE) where she had been hiding for two days, hugging her mother's corpse.

They used the tank for cover to move out dragging those they just saved past the corpses of those who perished. The little girl, she has not yet spoken, not a single word. No one even knows her name.

The next morning they spotted even more movement.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We ran got across the road, went through rubble like this and ISIS is on three sides of us, we can hear them talking. Crawled through, final got off the street ISIS is shooting. She tied herself, three days, no sleep no water, wounded.

DAMON: Much of western Mosul is already apocalyptic and the fight for the last square kilometers is going to be so much worse than anything we have seen before. There's no past blueprint for this kind of Warfare. No one has spotted an enemy like ISIS holding civilians hostage in a dense urban battlefield. We go to a clinic that is further back from the front line. There is an old man who can't speak from the shock.

And the little girl, he name is Marian. She is ten. And there was her older sister (INAUDIBLE). They say a mortar hit their house just as they were trying to make a run for it. One sister they know is dead. They saw her lifeless body. The others are buried under the rubble of their home by ISIS still control the area.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE) DAMON: The reality of what she just said perhaps not quite sinking in or maybe she's just looking for any distraction from a loss that they cannot yet fully comprehend.

Arwa Damon, CNN, Mosul, Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:32] BRIGGS: A huge loss today, the world of show business. The man who brought batman to life in the 1960s has died. Adam West passed away last night at his Los Angeles home. He was battling leukemia and was 88 years old. West was the first to pot on a batman costume and go to work against the joker and the penguin. A long list of super villains. Condolences are poured out around the world today but few are more heartfelt than the sentiments of this man.

On the right, batman's trustee television sidekick, Robin, played so perfectly by actor Burt Ward. This statement from Burt today quote "we shared some of our lives together, our family has deep love and respect for each other. This is a terribly unexpected loss my lifetime friend. I will forever miss him. And Burt joins me on the phone.

Burt, so sorry for the loss of your dear friend Adam West. We will forever know him as Batman even for those of us that weren't born in 1966. Why to you will he always be batman?

BURT WARD, ACTOR (on the phone): Because he and our show was bigger than life. It was something that appealed to every age group whether it was the kids who enjoyed the hero worship, it was the teenagers and the college kids that enjoyed the double means and insinuations and all the crazy stuff we did, and it was the adults who remember the comic books funnily. So batman appealed to all ages.

And what our show did that was different than every other show was ours was the very first show that actually played with the audience. We use to say we put on our tights to put on the world. And Adam and I had the best time together. I mean, for me, I have spent 75 percent of my life on this planet working with this man and I loved him dearly.

Even during the times that we filmed Batman on weekends we would find time to go out and play tennis. And people would come out and say oh my God there's Batman and Robin playing tennis. But we have great fun together. He was a wonderful man, a wonderful family man. He loved his kids. He loved his wife. He couldn't have been more fun to work with.

I have worked with Adam and we go out at these comic conventions and there's thousands of people, we get to do these panels where we were in hundreds -- in front of hundreds or sometimes even thousands and it's always the same thing where we don't plan anything, because he knows so much about me and I know so much about him, and we tease each other and taunt in the most loving way and the audience goes crazy. Batman will be here forever. I miss him terribly. I can't even

believe it has happened. I'm supposed to work with him in two weeks in Las Vegas. And I have a tour with him for the rest of the world but I will never forgot him. I love him as my own brother.

[16:30:28] BRIGGS: And Burt, the world can never forget him as Batman. And some would suggest that that would be difficult to deal with, being tied cast, not being able to get passed the costume. Did he come to peace with that? Did he embrace it?

WARD: Yes. But listen, you know, you don't run away from something that brought millions and millions of people around the world happiness. You don't run away from that, you embrace it. You love it. And Adam has done a ton of other things. And he has had the most wonderful life, incredible success. Everybody loves him, I mean, not just his family but a world that love batman and they love Adam. Because in all honestly, there's wonderful actors that have played Batman in movies since then, but in my mind there really is only one batman and that is Adam West and I will love him forever.

BRIGGS: Yes. Acts like it. He (INAUDIBLE) some really Christian Bale, some terrific actors, we know a lot now about now the role. Tell us what you will remember about the man Adam West?

WARD: This was a man that could be serious when he needed to be serious, but had the most amazing sense of humor of anybody I have ever met. And it was interesting, people would talk to him, interview him, talk to me and yet when you put us together there was something about it that people would look at us together and start laughing. And I would wonder, like what's wrong with them? Why are people laughing? But there was this chemistry of people being so straight and so grand and so worldly and just like an overgrown kid, but Adam was the greatest. I love him so much. I miss him so much. I don't think the world will be the same without him but I will tell you the world will never forget him.

BRIGGS: And that sense of humor, we saw that in the late years in the family guy which was hysterical to see him embrace that role so well.

Burt WARD, we are sorry for you lost. Really appreciate you sharing your memories with us though. Thank you.

WARD: Thank you very much.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:36:44] BRIGGS: While Britain's Prime Minister is holding on to power by threat her closest days are throwing in the towel. Theresa May's co-chiefs of staff party have resigned following the result of Thursday's election. May's party lost the majority in the parliament as CNN national correspondent Richard Quest explains the fall out could have been avoided.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This was an election that didn't need to take place and the result that's being described as nothing short as disastrous, catastrophic for the Prime Minister Theresa May.

Shortly actually losing the election it couldn't be much worse. Her majority which had been slim at best has now evaporated and she's got a minority government and will have to rely on the support of a minority party from Northern Ireland, the DUP to actually form a government. All of this only days before the British should to go into the hardest negotiations this country has faced in perhaps a century.

Negotiations for Brexit as they plan to leave the European Union. The prime minister's response so far has been to express certain apology and disappointment for those (INAUDIBLE) that she lost in their ministers who were not reelected. But so far there has been no sign of humility or true regret for calling an election and then having this result. In fact, some are saying she's braising it out with a way forward that say she's staying in government and going to see through the Brexit process.

But just about everyone agrees is that Theresa May will probably not be prime minister this time next year. The only question is, when she goes, who pushes her and when the UK has another general election.

Richard Quest, CNN, Westminster, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRIGGS: Richard, thanks.

New information emerging about the ring leader of last week's London bridge terror attack. The metropolitan police say (INAUDIBLE) wanted to carry out a larger attack by running a bigger truck or failed to provide adequate payment information for the online transactions. London police also say the ring leader was out on bail for fraud when he and his accomplices ran a crowd of pedestrians and went on a stabbing spree last Saturday. In the end eight people were killed, police shot and killed the three attackers.

In the wake of James Comey's testimony this week the President's person lawyer has suggested that Comey should be punished, but is that even legal? We discuss next.

You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:43:42] BRIGGS: Former FBI director James Comey admits to being an anonymous leaker. In his stunning testimony this week, Comey revealed he gave a memo documenting a private conversation with President Trump to a friend that he shared with the "New York Times." President Trump's personal lawyer fired back suggesting Comey may deserved to be punished.

Let's talk about the legal fall out here. I want to bring in constitutional law expert Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law school and Michael Zeldin, former special assist to Robert Mueller at the justice department.

Alan to you first, sir. Break this down for us. James Comey, is he a leaker and is what he did illegal?

ALAN DERSHOWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Everybody wants to punish everybody, we are just going overboard. The Democrats want to, you know, prosecute Trump, even though there's no evidence of any crime. The Democrats want to prosecute Trump. The Republicans want to prosecute Hillary Clinton. The Republicans want to punish Comey.

Let's get rid of all this punishment stuff and talk about the real issues here. I don't like what Comey did. I don't like the fact that he leaked. He should have been a standup guy and got in front of camera and said what he wanted to say. And he should have said I wanted there to be a special counsel appointed instead of having his friend from Columbia law school leak it to the press and (INAUDIBLE) tried to arrange a special counsel.

But enough already with the punishment. Everybody is trying to criminalize political differences. We have to understand in America, we make a short distinction between what we disagree with it, what is wrong on the one hand and what's criminally punishable or punishable on the other hand and were moving into the wrong direction by both sides seeking to use the criminal law against the political opponents.

[16:45:28] BRIGGS: Just another reflection of how divided we are politically right now.

Mike, you once worked for Robert Mueller. What do you make of the latest additions to the team on this Russia probe? Does it reveal anything about where we might be headed with the investigation?

MICHAEL ZELDIN, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO ROBERT MUELLER: Yes, it does. I think especially the hires of Weissmann and Dreeben. Weissmann is a spectacular law known well for financial fraud and Ron was his big case and for corruption. Dreeben is best accomplished as criminal appellant lawyer as lives in the United States at the moment. And I think that portends Mueller's thinking of this is going to be a fight.

Alan has spoken before on the television about whether or not, for example, a city President can be indicted. Whether or not for example, the President can commit statutory obstruction of justice by firing somebody he has the constructional right to fire.

These things may become litigation points for Mueller and Dreeben as well as it may be that where we are headed is not to statute of violation of law but rather abusive power allegation and referrals to Congress for articles of impeachment. And both Dreeben and Weissmann and the other lawyers, Rhee, as well in particular I think are all very suited to take that fight if that fight becomes joined.

BRIGGS: All right. I want to talk about the President's personal attorney which is now Marc Kasowitz. It's been an interesting week for him, cigars after the opening statement was released from James Comey. What do you think of the job he has done so far? And if you were advising President Trump, what advice would you have for him about how to play this?

DERSHOWITZ: First of all I'm not advising President Trump. I am not his lawyer. I am not on his side politically. I am on the side of civil liberties and basic fundamental constitutional rights. Many people misunderstand that position. I would be sitting in the same chair now if Hillary Clinton had been appointed President and the Republican lock them up gang were try to abuse the criminal law and stretch it behind all possibilities.

Some of my friends, really friends and colleagues who are partisan Democrats are trying so hard to find a crime, to stretch existing criminal law, maybe we can stretch it and apply it to Donald Trump. I suggest that if the shoe had been on the other feet or Clinton who were being prosecuted base on vague and general statutes, a lot of these people would be on the other side. They would be saying what I'm saying now. And I think we need justice here that apply equally to Democrats and Republican and get partisanship out of the administration of justice.

BRIGGS: But would you advise the President to stop saying he is completely vindicated, that he would go On the Record, go under oath and speak with Bob Mueller?

DERSHOWITZ: First of all I think he has a great lawyer. Kasowitz is a great lawyer and I think Trump will listen to Kasowitz because they have a long, long history. Of course, I would tell him not to go under oath. I told Bill Clinton not to go under oath. I told him before it ever happened. You don't go under oath if you are the President. And if you are in a conflict he said-he said, with Comey who is one of the most, you know, credible people in America, you just don't do that. You don't tweet all day and all night and you listen to your lawyers.

But it's very hard to get President Trump to listen to his lawyers. He got nominated because of his tweeting. He got elected because of his tweeting and he is not going to stop now. So any lawyer who represents him is going to have a real, real challenge.

ZELDIN: In fact David, to Allan's point, I wonder whether or not when the President said in that press conference that he would 100 percent give testimony under oath whether Marc Kasowitz says, no, please don't say that, or whether he said yes, that is our theory. I'm hoping he said please don't say that because I think it is very consider that Alan has said this 100 times before.

You don't have your witness, put themselves in that position where a lie could be that which tips them toward statutory obstruction of justice which they might otherwise not been able to do had they just executed their lawful authority under the constitution as they did in the firing of director Comey.

DERSHOWITZ: Absolutely right. And with director Comey, by the way, who in his testimony agreed with my point. He said the President had an absolute right to direct him to stop investigating Flynn. He had the absolute right to fire him. I think it follows that if you simply exercise your constructional

right, don't lie and don't destroy evidence and don't bribe people, that it would be unconstitutional particularly in the absence of a real specific statute to indict a president for obstruction of justice for performing his constitutional duty even if you disagree with the way he performed it which I do disagree with it.

[16:50:32] BRIGGS: The other thing though, Alan, that I think we agree on, however if the combination of factors reach the level of abusive power, irrespective of whether the statutory violation of obstruction of justice that is abusive power factors can be aggregated and formed the basis for a referral to Congress if Mueller felt that that was appropriate.

(CROSSTALK)

BRIGGS: You might -- excuse me professor. But Michael, you worked with Bob Mueller and when the President says that about, yes I will go 100 percent. I will speak under oath. Does Bob Mueller take that and say now I have to put him under oath? Is it sort of dare?

ZELDIN: No. I don't think Bob Mueller is the type of person who views these things as a dare. This isn't some sort of macho fight. Bob Mueller is consummate professional. He will put the President under oath if he feels he needs to in the continuation of his investigation. But not just for the sake of, well, you said that. I'm going to show you what I can do to enforce that. I don't believe that that's parts of Mueller's constitution.

BRIGGS: But Alan, I think you were interrupted. You were going to say something?

DERSHOWITZ: First of all, I agree with him. I have the greatest respect for Bob Mueller. I remember when he was the U.S. And I had the greatest respect for Comey. But I do think, when I watch his testimony the other day, that he allowed his anger and his pique. Understandable, the way the President fired him was outrageous. But I think he let his anger get in the way of his analysis sometime. But I think it was very important that he said that the President had the constitutional power to do what he did. And that really I think cannot be the bases for criminal conduct.

So I think we ought to be putting aside the issue of obstruction of justice and looking at the issue of impeachment. Raises the most fundamental constitutional questions. The constitution is very clear. Bribery, treason and other high crimes of misdemeanors.

What if Congress decides to impeachment a President in the absence of any of those elements, that's unconstitutional. But is there a judicial review, probably not. So it's ironic that Congress has the power to act unconstitutional. But there will be Congressmen and Senators that would say no. We can't vote for impeachment unless you can show us bribery, treason or high crimes of misdemeanors. Simple of use of office doesn't fit in to any of those category.

ZELDIN: But Alan, I think it's pretty clear in federalist 65 from Hamilton that if there is a sufficient number of factors that lead to an abusive office that fits definitionally the high crimes and misdemeanors then --

DERSHOWITZ: I agree.

ZELDIN: Then it's an appropriate referral.

DERSHOWITZ: I agree with you. I think what Hamilton had in mind is merely committing a high crime and misdemeanor. For example, the way Bill Clinton may have, you know, (INAUDIBLE) sex. But you have to take all of those factors, the high crimes and misdemeanors ad they have to add up to an abusive office and then you really have the elements for an impeachment.

ZELDIN: That's right. And that I think the trajectory that Mueller will follow as he puts together all of these pieces to see whether they coalesce into an abusive power or whether they don't.

DERSHOWITZ: Let me ask you a question, is he has authority as special counsel to gather evidence for impeachment or is his job only as a justice department prosecutor to come up with evidence of an indictable and prosecutorial crime. I think that is another big issue. What is the role of special counsel? Can he come up? Can he direct his investigation toward impeachment rather than toward what the justice department generally does, indictment and prosecution?

ZELDIN: So the answer to that might be if he decides that he wants to prosecutor President Trump, that the only way he can prosecute him is if he's impeached he becomes a private citizen and then he is suggest to indictment because they probably cannot indict him as a sitting President.

BRIGGS: Got leave it there. We could debate this back and forth for another half hour. Appreciate you very much, Alan Dershowitz and Michael Zeldin. Good stuff. Thank you.

All right on this week's CNN Money, a way of visit to the marine mammal center near San Francisco to meet baby seals and help them get back to the wild.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Built on a cold WARD missile site, the marine mammal center is just across the golden gate bridge in the marine headline (ph).

[16:55:06] CLAIRE SIMEONE, CONSERVATION MEDICINE VETERINARIAN: We are the largest marine mammal hospital in the world. We rescue of animal along about 700 miles of the California coast. Any time we get a call from a member of the public that an animal is sick or injured, then one of our volunteers will go get them and rescue them and bring them into our hospital. We see primary (INAUDIBLE) which are seals and sea lions. And right now we will see elephant seals and California sea lions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The center is free and open to visitors. They also need some help. The center cares for hundreds of animals at a time. So volunteers are needed especially in the kitchen.

SIMEONE: This is a place where people can come if they just have a couple hours to help feed our animals. They can help us to sort fish. They can help us some scrap things, to wash dishes, the whole gang and to really how to impact for a patients.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How much fish do you all go through a day?

SIMEONE: When we're in a busy season we can go through a thousand pounds a day.

This is the tough side area which is where we have our elephants seal patients and our sea lions. Our volunteer crews are bringing out the (INAUDIBLE) and the equipment that they are going to use to feed the animals.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never had a fish milk shake but I imagine it is delicious for them.

SIMEONE: They love it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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